Popyrin credits Aussie crowd with epic win
AUSTRALIAN Alexei Popyrin admitted he could not have survived his incredible four-and-a-half-hour slog with Chinese Taipei’s Chun-Hsin Tseng without the Melbourne Park support. Moved onto John Cain Arena after excessive heat, and then rain delays wreaked havoc at the Australian Open, Popyrin was on court until 2am before he could finally rest, winning 4-6 7-6 […]
2023 Australian Open ICYMI: Day 2
WEATHER at both ends of the spectrum gave players a taste of the ‘four seasons in one day’ for Melbourne, with scorching heat, followed by rain forced delays and suspended contests. Here is a quick look at what did go down on day two. THE GOOD: Epic tennis. There were some absolute thrillers on both […]
Chinese teen makes history at Aus Open
CHINESE teenager Shang Juncheng made history on day one at the Australian Open by becoming the first male from his nation to reach the second round of the Grand Slam in the Open era. Previously no Chinese male had ever won a first round match at the event, but the 17-year-old managed to achieve the […]
2023 Australian Open ICYMI: Day 1
IT was a massive opening day at Melbourne Park, with plenty of storylines coming from the 2023 Australian Open. We take a look at the good, bad and ugly, as well as some of the matches that stood out for fans as the first Grand Slam of the year got underway. THE GOOD: Chinese teenager […]
The story behind wildcard Rinky Hijikata
RISING Aussie tennis star Rinky Hijikata was in Sydney when he received a phone call from his coach Mark Draper in mid-December. Draper, the brother of 2005 Australian Open mixed doubles winner, Scott, was calling to inform the 21-year-old that he had received a wildcard into the Australian Open main draw. “(He said it’s) time […]
Popyrin gains vital match practice in Fritz loss
AUSSIE Alexei Popyrin had some additional match practice in against world number nine Taylor Fritz at the Kooyong Classic on Thursday. The 6-7 1-6 loss to the American is his seventh match of 2022, after he qualified and reached the quarterfinals of the Adelaide International last week before going down in a close bout against […]
Tiafoe confident ahead of AO as Kooyong crowd treated to entertaining spectacle
WORLD number 17 Frances Tiafoe is bullish on his chances at next week’s Australian Open. There is saying you want to win a major, and there is confidently declaring it. Tiafoe has set that as a realistic goal ahead of this year’s first Grand Slam tournament. The American enters the Australian Open off the back of […]
Aussies de Minaur, Hijikata get wins ahead of Australian Open
TOP-RANKED Australian male Alex de Minaur has carried his strong form from the United Cup to Melbourne, defeating Dominic Thiem 6-4 6-4 in the Kooyong Classic opener on Tuesday. De Minaur has repeatedly spoken about his love for playing in front of his home crowd and representing his country, and, donning the green and gold, […]
Bencic breezes past Muguruza
SWISS star Belinda Bencic was able to command the court against former world number one Garbine Muguruza, running out a straight sets winner on the opening day of the Adelaide International. A WTA 500 event, Bencic was coming off some hot form at the United Cup, and made an out-of-sorts Muguruza pay. Though the Spaniard […]
Sabalenka ends Noskova’s giant-killing run
WORLD number five Aryna Sabalenka has had her best Australian Open preparation yet, winning the WTA 500 Adelaide International by defeating giant-killer Linda Noskova. Though the 24 year-old Belarusian went in as strong favourite in the clash against the 102 ranked Czech qualifier, she could not afford to take the 18 year-old lightly. Noskova enjoyed […]
